1. Technical Field
The present invention generally is in the field of coloring hair, and more particularly is in the field of portable, disposable devices for coloring hair regrowth, particularly hair roots, and methods for coloring hair using such devices.
2. Prior Art
Salon owners continuously hear complaints from salon clients that their hair regrowth starts appearing shortly after receiving beautiful, expensive, professional color. More specifically, as human hair is in a continuous state of growth, very soon after a salon client has her or his hair colored, the salon client's hair roots begin to show, and the hair roots are not the colored, but are the salon client's original hair color. This can lead to multi-colored hair and public knowledge that the salon client is coloring her or his hair.
Currently, to avoid the hair regrowth from showing, the salon client has several choices for maintaining the color of the hair and for coloring the regrowth of hair roots. One such choice is commercially available hair colorants, such as those that can be purchased in the store. However, many salon clients will not use such products in fear that it will ruin the professional color. Additionally, such commercially available products can be messy and difficult to apply to the hair, and even messier and more difficult to apply just to the hair root. Further, the color choices currently on the market often will not allow the salon client a precise match to the professional color, and the salon client has to guess the quantity to apply, and has to mix various colors and other chemicals and solutions together, which can be a hit or miss process. Therefore, the use of such commercially available products is not a satisfactory option of many salon clients.
Another choice is to continuously visit the salon for hair color touch ups between major coloring visits. During such interim visits, the salon professional can color the hair root regrowth using the professional color originally used on the hair. However, such interim visits can be both time-consuming and expensive. The salon client must take time out of her or his day one a week or once every other week for such interim visits. Additionally, the salon professional often must charge the salon client for each such interim visit. Currently, many clients go to the salon every two to four weeks in need of such small but noticeable regrowth touch-ups, and in many cases, just a small perimeter touch-up. For the salon professional, this is a low profit activity and for the salon client, this is a high cost and time consuming activity. Therefore, such interim visits also are not a satisfactory option for many salon clients.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device and method that allows for the home coloring of hair regrowth, and especially hair root growth, between salon visits. There is also a need for such a device and method that is easy to use and to apply to the hair without messy or difficult mixing and application. There is a further need for such a device and method that is less costly and time-consuming than an equivalent visit to the salon for professional coloring touch-ups. There is an additional need for such a device and method that uses the same color formulation that was use by the salon professional for the initial hair coloring. There is also a need for such a device and method that is portable and compact such that the salon client can carry the device on her or his person or while traveling and can use the device and carry out the method without the need of additional devices. It is to these needs and others that the present invention is directed.